Zygophyllales
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What is Zygophyllales?
Zygophyllales is an order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, also known as the creosote bush order, consisting of 2 families, 27 genera, and about 300 species. These plants are mostly herbs or shrubs that thrive in tropical or temperate arid or saline environments.
Flowers of the Zygophyllales order are showy and have oil or nectar glands that attract bees for pollination. These flowers typically have five-parted perianths, 4 or 10 stamens, and 2β5 fused carpels. The fruits can be dehiscent capsules or indehiscent berries, and the seeds usually lack endosperm. The Zygophyllaceae family, also known as the bean caper family, includes 22 genera and 285 species that grow in desert or saline environments.
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Which types of plants are included in Zygophyllales?
Zygophyllales is an order of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It contains 2 families, Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae, with 27 genera and about 300 species.
Zygophyllaceae, also known as the bean caper family, includes 22 genera and 285 species that thrive in desert or saline environments. Examples include Zygophyllum, Larrea tridentata (creosote bush), and Fagonia.
Krameriaceae consists of only one genus, Krameria, with 18 species of hemiparasitic annuals, small shrubs, or herbs. These are restricted to the New World, from the southwestern United States to Chile.
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Where can you find plants from the Zygophyllales order growing in nature?
The Zygophyllales order, which includes 2 families, 27 genera, and about 300 species, can be found in tropical or temperate arid or saline regions.
The Zygophyllaceae family, a part of this order, consists of 22 genera and 285 species that mainly grow in the desert or saline environments of temperate and tropical regions. Zygophyllum (about 100 species) can be located from northern and southern Africa to Central Asia, India, and Australia. Larrea tridentata (creosote bush), of the genus Larrea (five species), dominates much of the deserts of southwestern North America. Fagonia (30β40 species) is widespread, occurring in the warm deserts of North and South America, the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean region, southwestern Africa, and southwestern Asia to northwestern India.
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What are some common features of Zygophyllales plants?
Zygophyllales are dicotyledonous flowering plants consisting of 2 families, Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae, 27 genera, and about 300 species. Members are generally herbs or shrubs, and they are largely restricted to tropical or temperate arid or saline regions. The flowers are showy and possess oil or nectar glands for bee pollination. Typical flowers have five-parted perianths, 4 or 10 stamens, and 2β5 fused carpels. Fruits are dehiscent capsules or various indehiscent berries. Endosperm in the seeds is usually lacking.
Zygophyllaceae, or the bean caper family, is a loose-knit assemblage of 22 genera and 285 species that mainly grow in the desert or saline environments of temperate and tropical regions. Most members are shrubs to small trees, often resinous, with opposite or spirally arranged leaves. The five-parted flowers typically have 10 anthers, each with a gland, and a well-developed nectary disk. Fruits are commonly capsules or schizocarps.
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How do Zygophyllales plants adapt to dry or harsh environments?
Zygophyllales are mostly herbs or shrubs that thrive in tropical or temperate arid or saline regions. These plants show adaptations that allow them to survive in dry and harsh environments. Xerophytes, like members of Zygophyllales, are adapted to dry habitats through mechanisms that prevent water loss or store available water.
Succulents, such as aloe, store water in their leaves or stems and have deep or broad root systems. Other xerophytic adaptations include waxy leaf coatings, the ability to drop leaves during dry periods, the ability to reposition or fold leaves to reduce sunlight absorption, and the development of a dense, hairy leaf covering. Many close their stomata during the day and open them at night to minimize water loss during hot, dry times.
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Why are some Zygophyllales plants important to people or the environment?
Several plants in the order Zygophyllales are valuable to people and the environment. Guaiacum officinale (lignum vitae) is a Neotropical tree with very hard, dense, and durable wood, which makes it valuable for bushings and mallets. It also contains gum guaiac, a resin with medicinal applications.
Balanites species have edible fruits, and their seeds produce oils for cooking or soap. Zygophyllum fabago (bean caper) buds can be pickled and used as capers. Conversely, Tribulus terrestris (puncture vine) is a troublesome weed with spiny fruits that can harm animals.
Larrea tridentata (creosote bush) dominates many deserts of southwestern North America. Additionally, Kallstroemia exhibits a mixed pollination strategy, ensuring seed formation in arid environments, which highlights its adaptive significance.
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Zygophyllales, the creosote bush order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, consisting of 2 families (Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae), 27 genera, and about 300 species. Members are herbs or shrubs, rarely hemiparasites, and largely restricted to tropical or temperate arid or saline regions. The flowers are showy and possess oil or nectar glands for bee pollination. Typical flowers have five-parted perianths, 4 or 10 stamens, and 2β5 fused carpels. Fruits are dehiscent capsules or various indehiscent berries. Endosperm in the seeds is usually lacking. Zygophyllales belongs to the Rosid I or fabid lineage of the Rosid group in the core eudicots under the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group II botanical classification system (see angiosperm).
Zygophyllaceae
Zygophyllaceae, or the bean caper family, is a loose-knit assemblage of 22 genera and 285 species that mainly grow in the desert or saline environments of temperate and tropical regions. Most members are shrubs to small trees, often resinous, with opposite or spirally arranged leaves. The five-parted flowers typically have 10 anthers, each with a gland, and a well-developed nectary disk. Fruits are commonly capsules or schizocarps.
Zygophyllum (about 100 species), the largest genus in the family, is found from northern and southern Africa to Central Asia, India, and Australia. Larrea tridentata (creosote bush), of the genus Larrea (five species), dominates much of the deserts of southwestern North America. The other species in the genus occur in arid areas of Argentina. Fagonia (30β40 species) is widespread, occurring in the warm deserts of North and South America, the Canary Islands, the Mediterranean region, southwestern Africa, and southwestern Asia to northwestern India. Balanites (25 species) is found from tropical Africa to Myanmar (Burma); in Africa the undigested seeds of Balanites wilsoniana are dispersed by elephants in their dung.
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Within the family Zygophyllaceae are several valuable New World timber trees. The most famous of these is Guaiacum officinale (lignum vitae), a Neotropical tree with very hard, dense, and durable wood. It is used in making the bushings for shipsβ screws and for mallets. The wood contains gum guaiac, a resin that has been used medicinally since the 15th century as a specific, but ineffective, cure for syphilis. The guaiac test is still used, however, to detect blood in feces. The wood of Guaiacum sanctum (holywood, also known as lignum vitae), from the northern Caribbean and Central America, is used for making small objects that require weight, hardness, and strength. Bulnesia arborea (verawood, or Maracaibo lignum vitae) is utilized for the same purpose in Colombia and Venezuela. The wood of B. sarmientoi (Paraguay lignum vitae) is the source of guaiac wood oil, which has a roselike scent and is used in soaps and perfumes.
A few species of Zygophyllaceae are edible. The fruits of several African species of Balanites are sometimes eaten, and their seeds produce oils used in cooking or soap manufacture. The pickled buds of the North African Zygophyllum fabago (bean caper) are used as a substitute for capers. Some species of other genera are weedy, but the most pernicious of these is Tribulus terrestris (puncture vine). This native of the Mediterranean region has been disseminated to all the drier warm areas of the world. It has hard fruits with sharp spines that easily attach to automobile and airplane tires and to the feet of grazing animals. The spines can injure an animal externally if touched or internally if eaten. Livestock that eat the plant may become very sensitive to light; ingestion of the fruits may cause death in these animals.
In Kallstroemia the petals and stamens spread horizontally from the pistil when the flower opens in the morning. The stigma is receptive to pollen carried in by insects (bees, wasps, butterflies, and flies) visiting the open flower for its nectar. By early afternoon the flowers begin to close, and the petals and stamens bend back upward, causing appression of the stamens, and what pollen they may still contain is placed onto the stigma, effecting self-pollination. This is a remarkable instance in which seed formation is ensured by self-pollination if necessary, but cross-pollination is first attempted. This is an important adaptation in a genus of plants growing in arid areas where their pollinators might not be present or abundant.
Krameriaceae
Krameriaceae is composed of 1 genus (Krameria) and 18 species of hemiparasite annuals or small shrubs to herbs restricted to the New World from the southwestern United States to Chile. Leaves are alternate and almost always simple. Flowers are showy, irregular, and pealike. The flowers are orientated in an inverted fashion. Bees of the genus Centris collect fatty acids from lipid glands in flowers of this family and the unrelated family Malpighiaceae (order Malpighiales). The fruit is nutlike and spiny, containing a single seed. Tannin from the roots of several species are used locally for tanning. Medicinal extracts from roots of Krameria triandra are used as tooth preservatives in Bolivia and Peru.
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